Last week Genealogy Today announced the release of a new subscription genealogy database - Family Tree Connection. I had an opportunity to play with the new database this week and thought I'd share my experience with you.

To begin, Family Tree Connection is a genealogy database in its infancy. At the time of launch, only 120 resources (over 20,000 individual listings) had been indexed. The records, however, are special - commencement lists, club and society membership lists, church records, and other old documents that capture details about the daily lives of our ancestors. According to Illya D'Addezio, owner of Genealogy Today, the materials are compiled from hundreds of rare documents, pamphlets and unique out-of-print books that contain genealogical tidbits about people from around the world.

While the uniqueness of Family Tree Connection offers the chance that you'll find records for your ancestors that you are unlikely to have stumbled over otherwise, the very uniqueness of its records also makes it less likely that you'll actually find anything on your ancestors. Most individuals in the US can be found in census records, but the likelihood that the yearbook from your great-grandmother's highschool has been found and transcribed is a bit less plausible. In my searches, I wasn't able to find a single hit for any of my ancestors. To put this in perspective, however, Family Tree Connection hasn't yet indexed any records from the Carolinas - the location of most of my U.S. ancestry. You can view a list of the areas and records which are currently included in the database at http://www.familytreeconnection.com/sitemap.html. Check back frequently - new records are being added frequently.

The FTC index is only searchable by surname (with no soundex option as of yet), but there are plans in the works to expand on this. Indexed records show careful attention to detail. I found no obvious misspellings in my many tests and the source of every listing is carefully documented, right down to the page number that the information was indexed from. There are no scanned images, but you can request a copy of any photos for a fee.

An annual subscription offers unlimited access to the Family Tree Connection database, along with discounts on purchase of genealogy books, CDs and other products in The Marketplace at Genealogy Today. The introductory price for a one-year subscription is $29.95. There are no refunds, but the index to the database is freely searchable (by surname only) so you can see if there are any possible matches before you subscribe. The free information includes the full name, record type, event year, and region so, unless you're researching a Jones family, you should have a pretty good idea if the records are of interest to you before subscribing.

Overall, I think this is a genealogy database with a lot of promise. A great idea that just needs a little time to grow. Check out the free search and/or sign up for the Surname Tracker - maybe you'll find something new on your ancestors!